"It's a nightmare," Dr. Valee said as they all gathered in the central venator building's hall. There they were given sleeping bags matching their numbers and dinner delivered in the form of porridge and bread. "I've reported to Miller," Oriyan said. "But he said we should not give up and lose the old bastard who created these monsters. He's clearly here, and he created those crazy monsters to protect his fortress." "But if we leave now to catch hin, we'll die," Charlotte said, biting her nails, clearly scared. "Lottie, don't be afraid," Damian said, trying to reassure her. "Some of Vera's team are survived, so there must be a way to complete this mission." "But what if I'm the one who doesn't survive, Damian?" Charlotte suddenly snapped, and they all froze as they saw Charlotte stand up. "I've been willing to fight as a Venator because I wanted to have a control of what's happening. But what's happening now..." she looked conflicted and pained now, and Oriyan rose to comfort h
"Quick, quick, everyone! Let's hurry up, we need to catch that Old Man!" said Oriyan, and their team immediately rose to prepare to head towards the van.For this mission, their team would combine forces with eight teams from Venator in the UK, the majority of which consisted of Venator Class B and C teams.Dim-Dim still thought of this as a suicide mission, but he tried to remain confident."Team Clary will catch up to help us," Damian reassured Dim-Dim. "But right now, they're on a mission in Orlando, so it might take a while.""Okay," said Dim-Dim, trying to stay calm. He entered the van with Velicia and Valir, then the three of them sat in the back row of passenger seats."Okay, during the mission, make sure you have knives ready in hand," Oriyan said, pacing outside the van while waiting for everyone to get in. "The goal is to make sure those monsters have a hard time devouring us.""I have an idea," Valir said, his face stern. "What if we just throw mines at their heads? From th
"What do you mean, Naomi? Mr. Loghan is just an ordinary old man, right? And Dim-Dim will be fully armed, although I think it's unnecessary because his supernatural power is transforming into any animals," Oriyan asked, puzzled.Naomi's voice sounded hesitant as she replied. "But the person who created these terrible monsters can't be just an ordinary person, Mr. Parenzee.""He's just an ordinary person," Oriyan insisted. "And he's very old. I trust my Illicitors can handle him."Naomi sighed resignedly. "Alright, if you're so confident in him," she said. "But I'd prefer if that boy is accompanied by a few Class B venators. Three, perhaps."Oriyan responded with a frustrated sigh. "Alright, if you insist, Naomi," he said. "But no. We need as much members as possible to face the monsters."And after that, the communication between teams was cut off.*****As they approached the London Borough of Newham, Dim-Dim became increasingly aware that the Doctor who treated Vera in the hospital
As the world slowly lit up around him, Dim-Dim found himself confined in a small cage. Rat carcasses were placed not far from his head.He rose and observed his surroundings. He was on a study desk in a child's bedroom; with a single-bed model mattress, a Spider-Man stickered plastic wardrobe, glow in thedark star stickers on the wall, animal action figures on the bed, and a basketball hoop behind the door.The robot boy's room, he thought. He could easily escape by turning into an insect and then slipping out of the cage. But his gut feeling told him to wait.Faintly, he heard voices, an old man, chatting with a woman and a child. There were also the clinks of forks and spoons, indicating that they were eating."How's Damian, dear?" Mr. Loghan asked."He's fine," answered a woman with a stiff voice similar to Dim-Dim's mother's voice. Dim-Dim's heart ached momentarily. This situation was strange.Why did Mr. Loghan surround himself with robots pretending to be Dim-Dim's deceased moth
"No!!" Dim-Dim screamed, so loudly that his voice almost shattered eardrums. "No! No!" he began to run, his vision becoming blurry.But then he saw the monster shrieking, as Damian deliberately jumped in and then sliced the monster's mouth from the inside. A few moments later, the monster vomited Damian along with blood.Dim-Dim wiped away the tears that blurred his vision, then ran towards them while carrying Mr. Loghan. Valir, seeing this, immediately approached him and helped carry Mr. Loghan. Meanwhile, Valee had already run towards Oriyan, who was lying on the asphalt. A large pool of blood emerged, flooding the bottom of the man's head, and Valee swiftly cleaned the wound and stitched up the gash on his head, quickly, without anesthesia or anything."Did you manage to catch that man?" Oriyan asked, looking at Dim-Dim, the man's eyes struggling to focus but still forced to keep staring at Dim-Dim.Dim-Dim nodded. Oriyan and the others seemed relieved. "We also managed to kill tha
Five years later... In 2100."Ten!""Nine!""Eight!"The senior students shouted in unison at the top of the forestry faculty building, in Safe City New Jersey University, each of them holding a glass of beer."Seven!""Six!""Hey! Amma! I am over here!" Dim-Dim called out to Amma as soon as he saw her in a pink ash T-shirt and cardigan, just stepping into the rooftop area of the building."Five!""Four!"Amma leaped towards Dim-Dim. "Hey!" she greeted him."Three!""Two!""How are y—"But Dim-Dim had already pulled Amma towards him, kissing her lips."One! Happy New Year!"Amma chuckled as Dim-Dim released her. "Don't do that suddenly!" she scolded him, while adjusting her glasses. Her face reddened.Dim-Dim laughed. For a moment, he running his fingers through his hair, smoothed his hair because Amma looked so beautiful. "I am sorry," he said, sincerely, as beautiful fireworks exploded above them. A girl from the campus magazine club snapped a photo of them, and they momentarily pos
When Dim-Dim arrived at the location of the house, he saw that it was already surrounded by yellow tape and filled with police officers milling about. Journalists and neighbors crowded in front of the fence, a boy about Cath's age stood silently in front of the quieter house, his gaze fixed on three body bags about to be loaded into an ambulance.Dim-Dim quickly landed on one of the birch tree branches and then leaped down, transforming into his human form."Officer!" he called to a policeman carrying the body bags. They saw Dim-Dim, realizing he was one of the Damisch family members, and immediately stopped to let him identify the bodies.Dim-Dim's hands trembled as he unzipped the body bag, finding his father's pale face. His hands shook wanting to unzip further, to see more, but the policemen shook their heads faintly at him."Don't, the condition of the body is unpleasant to see," said one of the female officers, her voice gentle yet warning.Dim-Dim trusted her. Moments later he
"She's been forbidden from freezing time by the doctor, for about this entire month."And at that moment, Dim-Dim realized that Amma had been pushing herself and was no longer being transparent with Dim-Dim.*****"Hey, are you awake?" Clarinassa asked gently, as Amma blinked her eyes. The girl had been laid down by Dim-Dim on the bed in Damian's guest room."I—where's Dim-Dim?" she asked."I'm here," Dim-Dim said, who was actually reading a book on the floor while leaning against the bed.Amma looked nervous when she saw him. "I think I dozed off," she said, trying to sound casual, but Dim-Dim and Clarinassa could both hear the guilt in her tone."I think it was more like fainting than dozing off," Clarinassa said.Amma grimaced, then looked at Dim-Dim. Only Dim-Dim's reaction mattered right now."I'll go see how the kitchen is right now," Clarinassa said, then she left."What's wrong with the kitchen?" Amma asked, and Dim-Dim chuckled."Damian, Oriyan, and Charlotte are learning how